Nineteen-year young wing spiker Laura Unternaehrer plays for host Volero Zurich and is – despite her tender age – already an important force for the Swiss national team.

Zurich, Switzerland, October 13, 2013 – Laura Unternaehrer is one of the youngsters at the 2013 FIVB Women’s Club World Championship in Zurich, Switzerland. The nineteen-year young wing spiker plays for host Volero Zurich and is – despite her tender age – already an important force for the Swiss national team.

Unternaehrer had a busy summer but is still in a good mood: “On Monday, we came back from the world championship qualification in Israel. I was a little bit exhausted after the hard games there, but I quickly recovered and started with full energy into the tournament. I am still young and can enjoy doing it.”

“I was a little bit shy first”

In the last few years, Unternaehrer has proved her professionalism. The young player moved from Biel-Bienne, where she went through the junior sections, to Swiss champion Volero Zurich with the unique goal of improving: “It was quite special when I entered the gym for the first time. There were players with much more experience and I felt a little bit shy first, but they were extremely nice to me and treated me like the others. The passion for volleyball connected us. I’ve learned so much from them.”

In the past few days, the Swiss national player has enjoyed some very special moments.

After successfully qualifying for the third round in the pre-elimination process for 2014 FIVB World Championship in Italy, Unternaehrer and her teammates from Volero Zurich finished on top of Pool A at 2013 FIVB Women’s Club World Champs – in front of their home crowd.

“It was an amazing win for us," she said. "Guangdong Evergrande are the Asian champions. My family and my friends supported me and shared my feelings. It meant a lot to me.”

Unternaehrer enjoyed every moment of such a prestigious competition: “It is the first time for me to play at a Women’s Club World Championship. Certainly when you are very tired after a competition you ask yourself if it was too much, but volleyball is my passion and I can’t have enough of it.”

Volleyball is growing in Switzerland

Unternaehrer sees a big evolution in Swiss volleyball, which is underlined by the achievements of the national team and Volero Zurich; “I think our triumph against Guangdong Evergrande and the recent successes with the national team shows our potential here in Switzerland. We hope to get more spectators by better results. The public attention for volleyball grows.”

In Sunday’s bronze medal match against China, Laura and her teammates from Volero Zurich get another opportunity to show their abilities and enthusiasm.

However, Unternaehrer could not hide her disappointment after Volero’s defeat in Saturday’s semi-final saying, “We had the chance to play for gold, but could not grasp on it. We all had dreamed of standing in the final game in front of our supporters. Nevertheless, we have to look forward. As we are going to have the crowd behind us, I am sure we can win bronze.”